Le Pen arrives for last day of appeal trial against alleged misuse of European parliament funds

Описание: (11 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris, France - 11 February 2026
1. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at court for what's expected to be the final day of her appeal
2. Cutaway Appellate Court chamber
3. Cutaway police
4. Arrival of Wallerand de Saint-Just, one of the defendants and former treasurer of Le Pen's party
STORYLINE:
Marine Le Pen's appeal trial over alleged misuse of European Parliament funds is ending Wednesday with one question looming above all others: will the French far-right leader be able to run for president next year?

Le Pen, 57, is challenging a March 2025 verdict that found her and over 20 other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016 and banned her from holding elected office for five years.

She denies accusations she was at the center of a fraudulent system meant to siphon off European Union funds.

The outcome of the appeals trial will be announced at a later date, likely before summer.

Here's why the outcome of the five-week trial at the Paris appeals court may change the course of France’s 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen's presidential ambitions could hinge on the case.

Le Pen was widely seen as a top contender to succeed centrist President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until a Paris court banned her from holding office over charges of misusing public money.

She was twice a contender in the run-off against Macron in 2017 and 2022 and her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls in recent years.

The appeals trial is a second chance to win an acquittal that would clear her path to the presidential race.

If convicted, Le Pen could be sentenced to a ban on holding an elected office. In that case, she has said, her 30-year-old protege Jordan Bardella would run instead.

Bardella's popularity has surged in recent years, but some observers have pointed to his relative lack of experience, especially with international and economic affairs, as a potential weakness for a presidential bid.

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